Chapter 6
“Kyahhh!”
A piercing scream tore through the air, and I squeezed my eyes shut against the searing heat.
“Ugh…”
A grotesque symbol. The distorted, agonized face of the head maid. The splattered blood.
A horrific explosion rang in my ears, leaving them ringing—and the heat from it still lingered.
Even without looking, I knew.
…The head maid was dead.
Gripped by fear, I clutched the hem of Edbon’s shirt as tightly as I could.
“Haa…”
Edbon let out a deep sigh and gently pried my trembling hands away.
As he moved away—he who had been shielding and protecting me—my fear and anxiety swelled even further.
“What on earth…”
Edbon turned to check on the head maid, his brow furrowing deeply, and then he stopped mid-sentence.
I couldn’t see past his broad back, but from where the head maid had stood, flames now blazed.
“Fire…”
I clung to Edbon’s shirt again, convinced that staying close to him was the safest thing to do.
Then, just as the fire seemed ready to grow even larger, a sudden gust of wind blew through and snuffed it out.
My hair whipped wildly in the wind, obscuring my vision, but I refused to let go of Edbon’s shirt.
“…”
My heart was pounding like mad, my head spinning. This was my first time experiencing something like this—death, an explosion.
Even though my body sensed the head maid was gone, my mind struggled to process the reality.
“You there.”
“Y-Yes, my lord! Your command!”
Two soldiers, who had been frozen in place, immediately straightened at Edbon’s call.
I instinctively pressed myself closer to him, afraid he’d leave me behind with those soldiers. I turned to look at the men he was addressing.
“…”
“…!”
Edbon saw their faces and couldn’t bring himself to speak. I grimaced in horror.
Their faces were a mess—splattered with blood.
…And it wasn’t the head maid’s blood.
“Ugh!”
Their faces were so mangled it looked as if their skin had been peeled off. I could barely keep from retching.
“Blegh!”
Their hands and faces were red, like they’d been badly burned, and their once-clean, tidy shirts were now in tatters.
“Hrk, huuu…”
The maids were no different.
Their faces were just as destroyed as the soldiers’.
“Sigh… Wait here.”
Edbon muttered a quiet curse after seeing the condition of the staff, then strode swiftly down the stairs.
I thought I had a tight grip on his shirt, but I couldn’t stop him from walking away.
I wanted to follow him, but my legs—shaking so violently—refused to move.
“I-I’ll go too…”
I called out desperately, but Edbon didn’t even glance back as he descended.
Only when his tall figure moved out of the way did I finally see the head maid.
Flesh torn apart, skin charred black in places.
Puddles of blood soaking the ground around her.
Her face had been so pulverized it was unrecognizable—nothing of her former expression remained.
The first corpse I’d ever seen in my life was completely mutilated.
“Ugh!”
A thick, metallic smell filled the air, unlike anything I’d ever encountered. The acrid stench of burning made me retch again.
“Ahhh!”
“Kyahhh!”
As the other servants caught sight of each other’s condition, their screams rang out.
“Blegh! Ugh!”
I vomited up the soup Gerard had given me just moments earlier.
“Haah, ha…”
Even servants standing far from the head maid had been hurt this badly…
…And I’d been close enough to touch her.
If Edbon hadn’t protected me—
‘…Would I have died?’
“Ugh!”
The realization that I’d nearly died sent another wave of nausea through me. Even with nothing left in my stomach.
After dry heaving for a while, I lowered my hand from my mouth and looked down.
My skin—still fair and soft like Anditne’s—was unscathed, likely because Edbon had shielded me.
The truth that I’d come that close to death made my whole body shiver.
And yet—at the same time—I was grateful that I’d sent Gerard back to his room.
…Thank goodness Gerard hadn’t been here.
“Kyahhh!”
A servant still trapped in shock continued to scream. I lifted my head—and saw a crowd forming.
Whether drawn by the explosion or the screams, people had begun to gather.
They stared, stunned, at the injured servants and the corpse of the head maid… then one by one, they dropped to their knees in fear.
As if I—Anditne—had caused all this, they all looked at me with terror.
While I stared back at them, a single thought suddenly struck me.
“…”
Could Gerard have heard the sound from his room?
Would he come out—and see all this?
Would this give him trauma?
Was it because I remembered him sobbing and begging not to be killed?
Even though I hadn’t calmed down myself…
I didn’t know exactly why, but even now, I was worried about Gerard.
I didn’t want him to see this.
Step. Step.
Pushing my legs to move despite the tremors, I hurried back up the stairs.
As I walked around the head maid’s body—
“Ow!”
A sharp pain shot through my heel, like I’d stepped on a needle.
The dull ache slowly crept from my heel up my calf.
“It hurts…”
I winced, hesitating from the discomfort, when—
“Uh, Mother…”
Through the screams, I barely heard Gerard’s anxious voice.
The gathering servants all turned toward the corridor leading to his room—so it wasn’t my imagination.
“Gerard!”
I rushed up the stairs and stood in front of him.
“You were supposed to stay in your room.”
“B-but…”
I scooped up the confused boy and hurried away from the scene.
I just wanted to get him as far away as possible.
There might be another explosion.
The smell of blood was overwhelming.
Something felt ominous.
“It’s nothing.”
Even as I said it wasn’t a big deal, I still hadn’t recovered from the shock.
My arms trembled as I held Gerard.
“It’s nothing, Gerard.”
As the servants continued sobbing, I shook my head at Gerard, who clung to my clothes for an explanation.
Someday, he might learn about today’s events—about the head maid’s death.
But not like this.
I didn’t want him to see it for himself.
Even for me, an adult, it was traumatic—how much worse would it be for him?
My legs still trembled. I nearly collapsed several times but forced myself forward.
Then—
Gerard looked up at my face and gently brushed my cheek with his small hand.
“Is… is that blood?”
His small white palm was tinged red.
Only then did I realize—the head maid’s blood had splattered on my face.
I couldn’t see it, but I knew my face must be streaked with her blood.
…Her blood.
Even though I’d moved far from the central stairs.
The smell hit me again—sharp and metallic, as if her corpse were right in front of me—and I gagged once more.
The head maid’s brown eyes flashed through my mind.
Even though I, not being Anditne, was seeing her properly for the first time—was it her memory lingering?
Or was it because I’d witnessed her death firsthand?
Her pained expression kept haunting me.
“Ugh…”
I flung open Gerard’s door, carried him into the bathroom, and turned on the water.
“Wash your hands. Why… why would you touch that?”
The head maid is dead…
I should’ve just stayed put.
Why did I go to the servants’ quarters?
Why did I open that door?
I should’ve just left everything alone.
What did I think I could do?
“Ah…”
As I washed Gerard’s hands, my gaze fell to my right leg.
Thump.
I collapsed.
“M-Mother?”
“T-this is…”
Fearing I’d seen wrong, I lifted my skirt.
My hands trembled so badly I could barely manage it.
“Mother, are you okay?”
Worried, Gerard came closer—but I couldn’t answer.
I straightened my leg.
Please, let it be an illusion.
Let me be wrong.
But clearly etched into my pale calf was—
That same red symbol I’d seen on the head maid.
